Canes freshman linebacker Alex Figueroa battling shoulder injury

The Hurricanes official injury report won't be coming out until Thursday, but it's guaranteed backup strongside linebacker Alex Figueroa is going to be on it.

The 6-3, 235-pound freshmen missed practice again Wednesday after being spotted during Tuesday's media viewing of practice with his left arm in a sling.

"We're evaluating his shoulder again today and we'll know more by tomorrow and certainly by Friday," UM coach Al Golden said during his weekly appearance on the ACC Teleconference. "He did not practice again today and we're holding him out right now. We just want to make sure whatever the diagnosis is we go through the battery of tests he needs to and we're not going backwards there."

Figueroa, who started against Savannah State and South Florida, has played in all nine games for the Hurricanes. Coaches raved about him during fall camp and he's done a nice job on special teams and in his appearances, racking up 17 tackles and a sack on the season.

"We're very high on Alex," Golden said. "He needs to continue to learn how to prepare and play the game faster, [fix] the mental errors, a lot of the things we deal with freshmen. Sometimes we forget he's a freshman. He is a guy we're excited about and that has a great future."

> Junior linebacker Denzel Perryman, who leads the Hurricanes with 78 tackles, welcomed a daughter to the world on Tuesday morning.